The present invention is directed to a mower assembly having a flexible, multiple section housing and especially to a mower assembly having a single drive belt configured to maintain the drive belt in a taut state as the mower housing flexes.
Mowers having multiple mowing units that are positioned adjacent to one another in a flexible housing provide substantial benefits to the user and have existed in one form or another for some time. Such mowers allow the multiple mower blades to be positioned in a side-by-side manner such that the mower is able to cut a comparatively wide swath with each pass thereof. The flexibility of the housing allows different portions of the housing and, therefore, different mower sections to follow the contour of the land and thereby provide a more even cut for the grass in uneven terrain than is provided by a single inflexible mower of the same width.
While mowers of this type have previously existed, certain problems associated with them have been unresolved in the past. One of those problems has to do with the drive of the various mower sections. Since it would be inconvenient and expensive to provide a motor for each of the mower drive sections, the various sections are powered from a single motor mechanism. The problem associated with this has been that most drive mechanisms that can be utilized for multiple mowers are fairly expensive in cost. For example, a gear arrangement can be provided at the outlet of the motor with a shaft connected to each of the mower sections to drive the mower sections; but for relatively small mowers this is again prohibitively expensive. Likewise, hydraulic units can be utilized to drive each of the individual mower sections; but for a comparatively small mower, hydraulics is a fairly expensive option. Whereas hydraulics and mechanical drive shafts are relatively expensive, a drive belt is a fairly inexpensive means of driving various mower sections.
While drive belts have been previously recognized for driving multiple sections, major problems have been encountered which severely limited their use. In particular, a drive belt does not remain taut and, therefore, loses some of its driving ability upon flexure of the various portions of the mower housing. That is, when two of the sections flex relative to one another, the drive belt may become so relaxed that it slips and does not effectively drive the mower sections. At other times if the mower sections pivot in such a manner as to significantly increase the tension on the drive belt, the belt may not be able to tolerate the increased tension and become overly worn or break.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a flexible mower housing having multiple mower sections wherein the mower sections are driven by a single, relatively inexpensive drive belt, yet wherein this drive belt is maintained in relatively constant tension, even as the various sections of the mower housing pivot relative to one another.